The Best is Yet to Come//My Life

This morning, I posted this photo on Instagram of one of my favorite mugs and figured I'd ramble a bit more about it here. Since I got back from my trip to the west coast, work has been hard. 10 hour days, editing non-stop and the basic upkeep of emails is plain exhausting. Add in work for an upcoming event for The A21 Campaign and the attempt at keeping a social life and, well, I think you get it. Although I loved being able to transition so easily from school to working for myself full-time and I am so thankful that I have clients and get to shoot the wonderful weddings that I do, there's no way around dealing with the exhaustion.

...And I know I'm not alone in this; not only am I not the only photographer in this boat but I'm not the only person who is dealing with the consistent feelings of being overwhelmed, always in "on" mode and never having a true break because there is always something that needs to be done. There's only so many days that can be requested off, episodes of Parks & Rec to watch and procrastination attempts until you realize something has to change, something has to be done if you want to get out of this cycle of work, rinse, exhaustion and repeat.

That solution, the something that has to change? That's different for everyone. But the possibility that things can change and will change-that's the same. If you feel stuck in a job you hate, are lonely amidst a community, feel constantly anxious, are tired of being a stay-at-home mom, feel unworthy of the love you know you deserve, the list goes on...you will get through this.

I'm not saying it won't be hard to make changes, to sacrifice and figure out how to not live like this, but it is possible.

And not only is it possible to not live like you are now, but you're meant to live beyond what you think is confined only to daydreams and Pinterest. My sweet friend, April, spoke this truth into me once when I was sixteen and frustrated (about something that was probably trivial). What God has planned for you, what He so deeply desires that you live abundantly within, is so much bigger and greater than what we can even imagine. What you hope and dream for...stop. Because how you're meant to live is so much bigger. The best is yet to come.

So let that be your fuel, your light at the end of the tunnel, the hope that keeps you moving and kicking and screaming and realizing that your heart is still beating, that you're still alive and that you still have a purpose.

Walk into it, breathe it in, let it crash through the halls of your arms like the millions of years of millions of poets coursing like blood pumping and pushing making you live, shaking the dust.

So when the world knocks at your front door, clutch the knob tightly and open on up, running forward into its widespread greeting arms with your hands in front of you, fingertips trembling though they may be.